Life really can be a picnic!

Everyone loves a picnic! This blog is about some of the things I love the most, and the term "picnic" just about covers them all. First of all, a picnic has to include food; simple food that is easy to fix. Next, you need someplace fun or different to visit; a nice, peaceful location. And of course, you always need to take along a good book to read and a well-used quilt to spread everything out on. So, there you have it! Easy recipes, good books, fun quilts along with some interesting, down-to-earth places to visit. You can even take your family or a friend or two if you want.



Thursday, May 3, 2012

May Days!

"All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother."--Abraham Lincoln

     I am having so much trouble wrapping it around my brain that it is May already.  I know that summer will be here in the blink of an eye and I am definitely not ready. 
     I guess we'll start with a cute quilt.  This one is from Quilt Soup (not only do you get a cute pattern but you also get a recipe--bonus!!).  It's called "We Be Jammin'".





     I read the book Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen last month.  It was good but my favorite has still got to be Pride and Prejudice.  I guess it reminds me of my girlhood growing up with four sisters and a dad who reminded me a little of the famous Mr. Bennett.





     Here are more pictures from our California trip.  We went to Yosemite National Park.  There is absolutely no way that you can take a bad picture there.  Any direction you faced the scenery was gorgeous.  I'm glad we were there in April so we avoided the crowds of the summer months.

                    








     The best dessert ever is fruit pizza.  My husband will agree.  He requests it every year for his birthday.  It's great in the Spring when the fresh fruit is available.  Thanks to my sister for a great recipe.

                                            

Fruit Pizza

Crust:

            ½ C. margarine            2 ¾ C. flour

½ C. shortening           2 tsp. cream of tartar

1 ¼ C. sugar                1 tsp. soda

2 eggs                          ¼ tsp. salt



Mix ingredients together as for cookies.  Press into a cookie sheet.  Bake at 400* for 10 minutes.  Cool.

Sauce:

            Beat 12-16 oz. of cream cheese, 1/2 C. sugar, 3-5 Tbsp. fruit juice (use juice saved from draining canned fruit).  Spread onto cooled crust.

Use pineapple, mandarin oranges, strawberries, mangos, grapes, bananas, cantaloupe, raspberries, kiwis, etc. and arrange on top of sauce on the crust.


Topping:

            Combine remaining fruit juice left from draining canned fruit with 3 Tbsp. cornstarch. Cook until thickened. Cool slightly and drizzle over entire fruit pizza.  Chill for several hours.

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